DR. JOSE P.

RIZAL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEETS

Grade Level: Date:

How Magma is Formed

A. Background Information for the Learner:

Earth has a layered structure that consists of the inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust. Much of the
planet’s mantle consists of magma.
Magma is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is
found beneath the surface of the Earth.
Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and gas bubbles.
Magma is produced by melting of the mantle or the crust at various tectonic settings, including subduction
zones, continental rift zones, mid-ocean ridges and hotspots. Mantle and crustal melts migrate upwards
through the crust where they are thought to be stored in magma chambers or trans-crustal crystal-rich mush
zones. During their storage in the crust, magma compositions may be modified by fractional crystallization,
contamination with crustal melts, magma mixing, and degassing. The high temperatures and pressure under
Earth’s crust keep magma in its fluid state.
Following their ascent through the crust, magmas may feed a volcano or solidify underground to form an
intrusion (e.g., an igneous dike or a sill).
Scientists use the term magma for molten rock that is underground and lava for molten rock that breaks
through the Earth's surface.
There are three basic types of magma: basaltic, andesitic, and rhyolitic, each of which has a different
mineral composition. All types of magma have a significant percentage of silicon dioxide. Basaltic magma is
high in iron, magnesium, and calcium but low in potassium and sodium. It ranges in temperature from about
1000°C to 1200°C (1832°F to 2192°F). Andesitic magma has moderate amounts of these minerals, with a
temperature range from about 800°C to 1000°C (1472°F to 1832°F). Rhyolitic magma is high in potassium and
sodium but low in iron, magnesium, and calcium. It occurs in the temperature range of about 650°C to 800°C
(1202°F to 1472°F). Both the temperature and mineral content of magma affect how easily it flows.

B. Learning Competency / LC code

D. Exercise/Activity
1. lava ________ a. the innermost geologic layer of the Earth.
2. mantle ________ b. magma that is high in potassium and sodium but low in iron,
magnesium, and calcium.
3. rhyolitic ________ c. an elevated region with a central valley on an ocean floor at
the boundary between two diverging tectonic plates where
new crust forms from upwelling magma.
4. basaltic ________ d. a region of the Earth's crust where tectonic plates meet.
5. volcano________ e. magma that is high in iron, magnesium, and calcium but low
in potassium and sodium.
6. magma ________ f. a naturally occurring opening in the surface of the Earth through
which molten, gaseous, and solid material is ejected.
7. andesitic ________ g. molten rock that originates in the Earth's mantle and flows from a
volcano or a fissure on land or the ocean floor.
 8. inner core ________ h. magma that has moderate amounts of minerals and has
temperature range from about 800°C to 1000°C (1472°F to 1832°F).
9. subduction zone ________ i. molten rock deep within the Earth from which igneous rock
is formed by solidification at or near the Earth's surface.
10. mid-ocean ridge ________ j. the part of Earth that lies between the crust and core.

E. Guide Questions (if necessary)

1. How do magmas form?

F. Rubric for Scoring

Proficient Level Developing Level Beginning Level Emerging Level

Answers 9-10 items Answers 6-8 items Answers 3-5 items Answers 2 or less
correctly correctly correctly items correctly

G. Reflection

Our earth is very old, an old warrior that has lived through many battles. Nevertheless, the face of it is still
changing, and science sees no certain limit of time for its stately evolution. Our solid earth, apparently so
stable, inert, and finished, is changing, mobile, and still evolving. Its major quakings are largely the echoes
of that divine far-off event, the building of our noble mountains. The lava floods and intriguing volcanoes
tell us of the plasticity, mobility, of the deep interior of the globe. The slow coming and going of ancient
shallow seas on the continental plateaus tell us of the rhythmic distortion of the deep interior-deep-seated
flow and changes of volume. Mountain chains prove the earth’s solid crust itself to be mobile in high degree.
And the secret of it all—the secret of the earthquake, the secret of the “temple of fire,” the secret of the
ocean basin, the secret of the highland—is in the heart of the earth, forever invisible to human eyes.
Reginald Aldworth Daly

H. References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magma#:~:text=Magma%20(from%20Ancient%20Greek%20μάγμα,planets%
20and%20some%20natural%20satellites.
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-difference-between-magma-and-lava?qt-
news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/magma/

I. Answer Key

Prepared by:

ROSENE C. CUBIO
Teacher II